Vic Mensa’s 2018 Hip Hop Awards cypher garnered a lot of controversy well before it was even broadcasted.
Shortly after the ceremony’s taping this month, the Chicago rapper received major backlash for appearing to take aim at the late XXXTentacion. Those who attended the event claimed Mensa’s cypher included references to “X” as well as a not-so-subtle line: "Only time you bear arms is in a wife beater, loser/Your favorite rapper's a domestic abuser"."
Here's the Vic Mensa XXXTentacion Diss. BET decided to bleep it out so no one would get upset but it wasn't bleeped out when X's mom and family was in attendance during the filming of the awards pic.twitter.com/gNwuNkSNz1
Audiences finally got to see Mensa’s cypher appearance during the awards show broadcast Tuesday night on BET.
XXXTentacion’s history of violent crimes is undeniable. The rapper faced mounting legal issues over the years, including domestic abuse allegations involving his ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala. Those charges were ultimately dropped in early August, less than two months after XXXTentacion was fatally shot in Southern Florida.
Many people criticized Mensa for mentioning XXXTentacion's allegations in the cypher, not only because the rapper's death was so recent, but because his mother Cleopatra Bernard was in attendance. Mensa addressed the controversy via Instagram last week.
"I vehemently reject the trend in hip-hop of championing abusers, and I will not hold my tongue about it," he explains. "I don’t give a fuck about getting attention. I care about bringing awareness, and holding people accountable for their actions."
You can check out Mensa’s freestyle in the video above. He also addresses his beef with 6ix9ine: "Name a single Vic Mensa song [...] We all know you won't live that long/I dont respect (bleep) posthumously."
Shortly after he insulted Mensa via social media, 6ix9ine appeared Power 105’s The Angie Martinez Show, where he challenged the rapper's relevancy.
"I cannot name one song if someone had a gun to my head right now," the "Fefe" artist said. "Who is he? Is he even respected? Who knows him? Does he have a Billboard hit? So why are you beefing with me? [...] Vic Mensa, this is for you: No one knows you. Like, no one. We’re at a radio station, the hottest radio station probably in New York. No one knows you. I’m not being mean; I literally asked everyone. I gave you a fair chance."
